TICFF 2024 Opening Ceremony
The Taiwan International Children’s Film Festival (TICFF), organized by PTS Taiwan since 2004, is the first biennial film festival in Asia specifically designed for children under 12, and remains one of the largest scale children’s film festivals in Asia.
The 11th edition of TICFF in 2024 from March 29th to April 7th marked the festival’s 20th anniversary, and aimed to expand TICFF’s brand spirit of “endless possibility” to “inner potential.” Inspired by the common narrative structure of the “hero’s journey,” the theme of this year’s festival was “We Are Heroes,” inviting children of all ages to join a quest and showcase their potential through participating in festival activities and experiencing the adventures of film protagonists.
TICFF 2024 received a total of 1,109 submissions from 76 countries in its “International Competition” category, breaking the record set in TICFF 2018. Since releasing the list of international competition finalists on January 2 of this year, the festival has sparked much discussion, with many of the selected films having already won awards at various international film festivals.
TICFF 2024 boasted an exciting screening lineup, featuring 84 high-quality films from 37 countries worldwide. In addition to focusing on the annual theme “We Are Heroes”, the festival specially planned a new section called “Hi! Bonjour! Salaam! Hæ!” which aimed to lead children through diverse cultural worlds, broadening their cinematic horizons. Other sections include “Courageous Me,” encouraging children to express themselves and stay true to their inner selves; “Nice to Meet You,” focusing on peer issues; “My Family Medley,” showcasing various aspects of family life; “What Life Can Be,” addressing the healing process of facing loss and grief; and “Brain Blast,” using various unconventional presentations to completely subvert one’s imagination of the world! As for the festival’s signature “International Competition” section, a total of 33 films were selected this year, all showing significant growth in both topic development and creative standards compared to previous years.
In addition to the adventures onscreen within the theaters, TICFF featured a series of “Adventure Challenges” outside the theaters, such as challenging young children to navigate their way to the theater hall alone and also giving them an opportunity to role play various jobs on a film set. Festival activities tailored toward adults were also planned, including several workshops and lectures designed specifically for parents.
Recognizing the importance of children’s self-expression, the festival introduced, for the first time, the “Children’s Viewfinder Special Recommendation Award,” allowing children from all over Taiwan to sign up as child judges and evaluate the international competition entries online. The festival also planned a “Film Critic and Film KOL Jury Award,” inviting Taiwan’s rich film critic and fan circles to participate, expanding the festival’s reach to previously untouched corners online and offline.
In addition to restoring the physical festival after a six-year hiatus, TICFF will also be launching an online festival on the PTS streaming platform PTS+, showcasing even more exciting festival programs, and allowing children across Taiwan to experience high-quality children’s films and television works from around the world.